Baby Steps
by AthenAltena
Summary: Set pre series, Natsuki begins to put the pieces of her life back together, and in the process learns that she is not as alone as she thought.


Natsuki was alone when she woke up. 

It was an odd feeling to only be aware of a white ceiling and the dull beeping of hospital equipment in the background. For all she knew she might have stared at that ceiling for hours until a muscle in her leg cramped violently, causing her to cry out in pain. It was only then that she realized that she was not just dreaming and remember what had happened – driving with her mother, the suited men, careening of the cliff, Duran – and began to understand _why_ she was alone.

Eventually a bespectacled nurse heard her quiet sniveling. With wide eyes the nurse quickly dropped the tray she was carrying to sprint down the hall and yell out that Kuga was awake. Natsuki only vaguely recalled wishing that the woman would shut up.

What happened after that was a flurry of doctors coming and going to check on her, taking her blood pressure, sticking her with shots and waving lights in front of her eyes. Somewhere in the midst of all that she was told that it had been a year since the accident, and though no one said it directly she understood that she had been the only survivor, though it was hardly surprising at that point.

The first meal she had was unremarkable – hospital food never was – but it almost made her cry until something deep inside stopped the tears from reaching her eyes. The idea of showing any weakness to these people made her sick. She eventually just tuned out their idle chatter about what had happened in the world since she'd been asleep and accepted their kindness for what it was – an attempt to fix something that couldn't be undone by any amount of well-wishing.

And then her father appeared. She saw right through his act – the stubble on his chin, his askew tie – and didn't believe for even a second that he'd rushed down as soon as he could. Even as he hugged her, assaulting her senses with that cheap cologne and vague promises that they'd always be together from now on she knew what she had to do, and that whatever chance she had of a normal relationship with him was already dead and gone long before the car had careened off the cliff. But she'd let him believe what he wanted for a while longer, if only to crush him harder when she would eventually reveal her intent to stay in Fuuka. She also made a note to hike up her hospital expenses as much as possible with room service. He was paying after all, and despite all his excuses about being unable to pay her mother's alimony she'd seen his house in Nagoya and his expensive sports bike, so she was anything but sorry to cause him grief after what he'd done to her mother over some woman he'd met at work.

The next week was made up of physical therapy to strengthen her unused legs, periodic prods with a needle, and a string of well-wishers who all seemed to leave gift baskets, all of which somehow ended up in one corner of the room. Learning how to walk again was the hardest part, but eventually she got the point where she could go unaided down the hall as nurses watched proudly. The attention made her uncomfortable, but she knew that she at least had to put up with it before she could do anything else.

Finally one day she built up the nerve to ask a nurse if she could walk along the beach outside the hospital. The nurse apparently felt sorry enough for her to allow it, and cheerfully suggested that the fresh air would be good for her.

The salt air was indeed nice, and despite the gray clouds blotting out the sun Natsuki really didn't mind. Somehow a sunny day just wouldn't have fit. The cold slap of the wind against her face was also strangely comforting as she walked barefoot in the sand, and the fact that the beach was deserted because of the weather gave her enough space to properly sort out her thoughts. She felt unbelievably old, and though she had spent a year asleep she felt as if much longer had passed. It was an odd feeling, but the clarity of her thoughts was comforting even as the wind whipped her hair painfully into her eyes.

She made her way to an outcropping of rocks near the edge of the beach, with the intent to climb up them and look out at the ocean, but as soon as her bare foot touched the cold gray rock something made her stop and stare at an odd marking a few feet away. It was as if she were being pulled towards it, and before she could really comprehend what she was doing her hand had reached out to touch it.

What happened next Natsuki remembered only as a flash of light and a low, keening howl that seemed to reverberate through her entire body. By the time the light had faded she was standing face to face with a large mechanical wolf, who quickly knelt before her like an expectant puppy.

"Duran..." She said the name without thinking, but the wolf responded with a low whine, as if in approval. As Natsuki stared at him it all fell into place. The hundreds of hours of research conducted by her mother, the birthmark on her side that she had been had instructed never to show to anyone, and the cryptic word that always seemed to crop up in her mother's notes – HiME – and the people who had always asked for her mother on the phone – The First District. It was a start, at least.

Duran whined, as if to urge to her to get on with it, and for the first time since she could remember Natsuki smiled. She may have lost a lot, but at least she wouldn't be alone from now on.

Just as rain began to batter her face she turned around and began to walk down the beach with Duran at her side, paying no heed to the drops of rain that stung her face or the wind that threatened to topple her into the sea if she were not careful. They had work to do.

- Fin

---

A/N: I used information from the official novel "Natsuki's Prelude" for some details (such as her father having an affair), but everything else is my own interpretation of events following the accident that left her in a coma.


End file.
